eBay

antantmin · ‎05-09-2020

This is more of an investigation than anything, I am fully aware that I did not do my homework on this seller (on purpose). However, for once I wondered what if. I ordered a chair at a heavily discounted price which stated open box in the title but was marked as new for item condition...lol great start. Then comes the location, Francis Canada...upon further research this place doesn't exist. Now for the shipping this one made me laugh, the item weighs approx. 30lbs and would require a pretty large box...expensive shipping right? Nope, free shipping to over 50 countries (Vatican city included). However the funniest part about the shipping is that when you switch countries to anything but Canada, it marks the item as now shipping from China! I am really wondering what will come of this, I am expecting absolutely nothing (not even a package), maybe a copy of half life 3! Maybe this is how you win the lottery!?

TLDR I gave someone in China a loan; place your bets on what will come from this.

brettjet38 · ‎05-09-2020

I have done this a few times...

One time I actually searched out the biggest, nicest, thickest, cheapest, dickest, sorry my Monty Python escaped there... Fancy Cat Tower I could find on eBay and purchased it, without reading a thing (BDR) I just looked at the price, $9.99US with Free Shipping Worldwide including Tasmania and the pretty pictures with little kittens and cats (My Cats are gonna so love this virtual home), so I order a few, one of each color, one for each room...

What the heck, I'll buy another from that Seller too...

But, If you do get to the point of actually sending them a message to inquire about those items with a "Where is my item...message" they will (or not) reply with a variation on a theme of " please wait kind person, we will send you a replacement, please close claim, the new one will come soon, tracking number provided no good" you get the picture...

Evidently, to say I the Buyer, (as they almost always do, this is eBay remember) did get back all my money as eBay either removed the listing before the item was supposed to arrive or I just filed an INR because we all know it never will, would or could arrive...

If we all did this just for fun it would actually force ebay to deal with Chinese Sellers, but we all know they will not why??

The Fees they get to keep from those crooked Chinese Sellers because they certainly do not get to list for free

...do the maths!

darak10 · ‎05-09-2020

I would report the seller for fraud. Its not just misleading but fraudulent to state you are shipping from one country and then shipping from another, isn't it?

ypdc_dennis · ‎05-09-2020

@antantmin wrote:
... the location, Francis Canada...upon further research this place doesn't exist.

But it does.

Trouble is that is a lake in Manitoba.

So they must be shipping from a top secret underwater base.

antantmin · ‎05-09-2020

It is absolutely against TOS. Problem is I've tracked down at least 5 different accounts linked to this seller with the exact same fake reviews and seller description...They'll just keep popping up. I will report the account, but expecting anything more than giving the seller a small inconvenience... nothing more will come of it unfortunately.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎05-09-2020

Maybe they meant Fort Francis, Ontario. Hmmm??

-Lotz

ypdc_dennis · ‎05-09-2020

@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:
Maybe they meant Fort Francis, Ontario. Hmmm??

I stopped too soon with the lake in Manitoba, went just a bit further west and discovered that Saskatchewan has the town of Francis -- population of around 200.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis,_Saskatchewan

-..-

femmefan1946 · ‎05-09-2020

"New- Open Box" is an allowable description. It allows photography of the item, or could be a floor model.

Does it say Francis, Canada or Francis,CA?

CA is used for California as well as Canada.

Although the Francis in California is also a lake.

Still.

Definitely a fake location and reportable.

EBay doesn't seem to react to single reports from single members, but multiple reports from many members get some reaction.

The point being that the single report may be from a competitor, a vigilante or just simply wrong.

Have you marked the last day for delivery on your calendar? Looking forward to the rest of the saga.

antantmin · ‎05-09-2020

Item condition is new, not new - open box (however the title is open box). Also, since my purchase, the seller has updated the ad 3 times continuously adding stock to the item inventory (classic bait).

As for the other people ordering this item, I'm quite concerned that some less...logical buyers might completely forget about their order and get their money stolen.

This product is now the top result under many desk chair searches. And for those wondering it is Francis Canada.

darak10 · ‎05-11-2020

wackamole. or like trying to nail jello to the wall. Thats a shame but not at all surprising. they have every scam technique down to a fine art it seems. And several years ago I tried to set up a different id to sell different stuff unrelated to my current store and they wouldn't allow it, which forced me onto a different platform to sell that stuff.

I think these kind of sellers sit around and study the rules so they can figure out ways around them, its really too bad.

The issue of China receiving subsidized rates to ship cheaply internationally really needs to be dealt with by international governments and the Global postal union, I think this will partially remedy the problem. If they have to pay shipping rates similar to ours, most of these guys will return to peddling their stuff at local markets or go out of business entirely. Ebay knows this which is why they fought the US threat to leave the Union last fall so hard. Ebay says it has sellers backs, but it seems their priority is ensuring the Chinese market has access to the west so they can draw seller fees from them. If there's a little collateral damage along the way to western folk getting scammed every now and then, well, that's just part of the price of doing business. At the end of the day, big money doesn't care how it affects the little guy, until the little guy chooses to buy locally / from within ones own country or particular set of trusted countries where they know they can trust the product and the service they are getting.

ypdc_dennis · ‎05-11-2020

@darak10 wrote:
... The issue of China receiving subsidized rates to ship cheaply internationally really needs to be dealt with by international governments and the Global postal union ...

Last year's UPU fall meeting set up a rate change schedule.

USPS and China Post are changing their rates this summer.

Most other countries will have new agreements January 2021.

-..-

femmefan1946 · ‎05-11-2020

The issue of China receiving subsidized rates to ship cheaply internationally really needs to be dealt with by international governments and the Global postal union,

The problem had been addressed before that, and first steps were well underway by the September 2016 meeting of the Universal Postal Union.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎05-11-2020

When the listing was still available based on the distance showing it did belong to Frances, SK.

-Lotz

antantmin · ‎05-12-2020

Item was removed, as well as all other items he/she was selling. I was advised it was a hacked account, and all buyers got their money back. Happy ending!

vallyval · ‎03-06-2022

Francis is in Saskatchewan. Very small town but it does have a post office.

reallynicestamps · ‎03-06-2022

ZOMBIE THREAD FROM 2020.

The problem with Zombie Threads is that the information in them is likely to be out of date and inaccurate.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎03-06-2022

@reallynicestamps wrote:
ZOMBIE THREAD FROM 2020.

The problem with Zombie Threads is that the information in them is likely to be out of date and inaccurate.

Very true in majority of cases except I wouldn't want to be the messenger letting Frances SK know they don't exist.

The only reason these posts do appear is because Best Match is used first vs Most Recent.